


Every Hand's a Winner, Every Hand's a Loser

by deckgoat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-10 09:46:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11689104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deckgoat/pseuds/deckgoat
Summary: On a seemingly harmless diplomatic mission, Lance has a bad day. And then he has it again and again and again.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place post-s2 in a universe where Shiro didn't vanish.

Lance woke to the announcement from Allura about their rapid approach to the next distress beacon, but he didn't really open his eyes until he felt something wet drag along the top of his head, tugging at his hair. At first Lance just thought _nice_ , and settled deeper into his bed, but then the tugging got painful - not to mention mucous-y. When he unburrowed himself, Kaltenecker's big brown eyes stared down at him. The cow was chewing on his hair. Lance wanted to scream.

"I'm returning you," he informed Kaltenecker. "Straight back to the Space Mall."

Kaltenecker let out a mournful sound and continued the chewing.

"We will be breaching Axytl's atmosphere in twenty dobashes. All paladins report to the bridge," Allura's voice came across the intercom. "That means _you_ , Lance."

Lance, still suffering under Kaltenecker's onslaught, gave the ceiling a sloppy salute.

xxx

"You're late," was the first thing Lance heard when he opened his door. Keith was leaning against the wall just outside his rooms, arms crossed over his chest. _I am far too cool for you_ , his posture said. Thankfully his face looked as stupid as ever, so Lance wasn't impressed.

"So are you," he snapped back. "We're both not on the bridge."

"Shiro sent me to get you." Keith pushed off the wall and fell into step with Lance, walking so close to Lance their shoulders brushed together. Then he stopped. "What happened to your head?"

Lance glowered. "I don't want to talk about it." Apparently Altean shampoo didn't hold up against cow spit, leaving him with an unfortunate looking cowlick. Definitely not up to his usual standards of beauty. Keith just rolled his eyes and moved past Lance, walking onto the bridge first. Lance's eyes followed him in, sinking lower still until he caught the cock of Keith's hips as he walked, the outline of his ass. Keith disappeared into the doorway, then returned a moment later.

"Are you coming?" he demanded.

"Yeah, sure," Lance said, rubbing at his eyes, "just stewing in self loathing for a second. A teck. Whatever."

"You're weird," Keith decided, then left him alone in the hall. Good. Lance didn't need him or his stupidly tight pants.

"...on the planet. The Axytlans are a peaceful race, but they're also very literal. Don't joke around with them. I don't want any misunderstandings," Allura was saying. She stood facing the main screen, gesturing at a geographic rendering of the planet's surface. Keith stood close to her, leaning slightly over toward the map. Lance didn't know where to look.

"So Keith should be right at home," Lance said, because of course he did. Self control? Mental filter? What are those? Allura and Keith turned in tandem, giving him identical scowls. Lance was pretty sure he once had an awesome dream that started exactly like that.

"All right guys," Shiro interrupted. "Save the bloodshed for the Galra. We need to figure out what the distress beacon is about."

"Figure it out?" Lance asked. "I mean, it's probably Galra, right? Or a trap. Galra _and_ a trap."

"Evil government," Hunk added.

"Capitalist pigs," Pidge finished.

Shiro looked pained. "That's--okay, anyway, no. We haven't been able to detect any Galra presence on the planet."

"None?" What the hell were they doing there then? Lance looked over at Keith, who apparently must have agreed because he went from scowling at Lance to scowling at the map as though holding it personally responsible for keeping him from kicking Galra ass.

"As far as we can tell, the planet is peaceful. It has no major resources the Galra would want and seems to rely on agriculture for major exports."

"So," Lance said, "a planet full of farmers who take everything literally. Nice."

"We'll be taking a pod down," Allura continued over him. "No lions this time. I don't want to alarm the Axytlans. This is a strictly diplomatic visit until I inform you otherwise."

No lions? Lance couldn't shake a sudden feeling of vulnerability. But the princess knew best, he figured, so he didn't argue. Still, in the back of his mind, as they all loaded onto the pod and headed for the planet's surface, he could hear Blue rumbling, a distressed and forboding sound. Something felt off. Lance, for once in his life, hoped he was wrong.

"What are you so quiet for?" Keith asked, leaning close to Lance and keeping his voice soft, just for the two of them.

"Weird feeling," Lance admitted.

"You think the Galra might be there after all?"

"Dunno. I just think this is going to be more trouble than we expected, is all." Lance slumped down in his seat. Keith didn't lean away. Over Keith's shoulder, Lance saw Hunk give them a strange look, and he wondered what sort of picture they made, huddled close without a purpose. Keith had been much more... personable? Physical? Lance wasn't sure if he wanted to read into it or if he wanted it to mean nothing.

"Preparing to land," Allura said, the pod shaking slightly as she took it down. "Remember everyone, this is a diplomatic visit. Be on your guard, but also be on your best behavior. If all goes well, we might come out of this with another ally in our fight against the remains of Zarkon's empire."

By the time they disembarked, a small crowd had gathered outside the pod. The Axytlans were a strange looking race, all of them an ill-looking mauve color with a trunk like an elephant's in place of their nose. They looked otherwise humanoid, and Lance couldn't help but imagine them as a character in a kids show back on Earth.

One of the Axytlans broke away from the group, approaching the paladins. Their small trunk pointed skyward and let out a trumpeting sound that the crowd behind them echoed. "Welcome," the Axytlan said at last. "You are....Voltron?"

"We are," Allura confirmed. "I am Princess Allura of Altea, and these are the paladins of Voltron. We received your distress signal and came as quickly as we could. What seems to be the trouble?"

"Many things," the Axytlan said. "I am Ropar, the head of this sector. Things have been," Ropar hesitated, searching for the best word. "Gone."

Allura didn't miss a beat, smoothing over Ropar's strange choice of words in a way Lance envied. "Things have been disappearing?"

A low murmur rose from the crowd as Ropar nodded frantically, his trunk swaying. "Our livestock, our crops... even our people. Nothing is safe."

"Do you have any idea what's causing it?" Pidge asked. "Are there Galra stationed nearby?"

"No Galra," Ropar said. "No enemies. There is no one thing to blame."

Sounded freaky. Lance's mind supplied him a thousand increasingly improbable theories, ranging from alien abductions to anti-angriculture serial killers. "I've seen way too many horror movies," he muttered.

"How often do these disappearances occur?" Pidge tapped at the small screen on built into her armor.

"Every day," Ropar said, "and then less than that. Many at once but also none."

"Right," Lance said. "Makes sense." It didn't make sense. He was lost.

"Perhaps the best course of action would be letting us patrol the area, find some evidence?" Allura suggested. "We can reconvene in two dobashes and discuss what steps to take from there."

"It would be our honor to host Voltron during the duration of your stay," Ropar said. He gestured behind him to a large dome shaped building in the distance that rose high toward one of Axytl's two suns. "Rooms have been prepared. Please make your way to the hall when you are ready."

As the crowd of Axytlans dispersed, Lance was again struck by a feeling of wrongness. Were they lying? Was this another set up? Probably, he figured, but that was nothing new. "So," he said, "the aliens are being abducted. Nice plot twist."

"Technically, we're the only aliens here," Pidge pointed out. "And are we even sure these are abductions?"

"What else could they be?" Hunk asked. "Things and people going missing without an explanations - sounds like abductions are the only answer."

"Regardless, it's our job to find out what's happening." Allura gestured toward the main hall in the distance. "We'll meet there in two dobashes. In the mean time, I want you all to split up and search the area for any signs of unusual activity. Even if it seems harmless, if you feel like something is off, make a note of it. I'll be coordinating your search from the ship."

The team parted ways, heading off into different directions. Lance headed east, toward the higher of the two suns. He couldn't tell what time of day or night it was supposed to be. With two suns, did Axytl ever experience night? His circadian rhythm was _so_ going to suffer if they had to stay on the planet for long.

Aside from the scorching heat off the two suns beating down on him and the seemingly neverending fields of a crop that looked like some kind of pumpkin, Axytl didn't have much to show. Lance would have preferred fighting a Galra soldier to spending two hours staring at farms.

"Time's up," Allura's voice came across the com, quickly followed by Hunk groaning _thank God_. "Reconvene in the main hall. I'll see you all there to discuss your findings."

Like anyone found anything. Lance hadn't heard a peep from his teamates the entire time. If anyone found anything to break the mind numbing boredom that was Axytl, they wouldn't have been able to contain themselves. Lance sure as hell wouldn't have.

"Copy that," Shiro replied. "See you all soon."

Lance turned around and made his way back toward the main hall. Everything in his portion of the sector looked the same. He got turned around a few times, and all the Axytlans he came across were completely unhelpful. It took another dobash to get to the hall. Again, he arrived last.

"Fashionably late, as always," Pidge greeted him. The entrance to the hall was a large lobby with randomly placed bean bag chairs, giving the open room the appearance of something that might be found in a hippie commune. Pidge had appropriated three of the bag chairs and made a makeshift bed she had then proceeded to sink into.

"What can I say? It's in my nature." Lance hoped he didn't look as frazzled as he felt. Less than a day and he already hated Axytl.

"Did you find anything?" Allura asked. "No one else seems to have had much luck."

"I found farms," Lance said. "But maybe they were evil farms. I don't know."

"I saw a movie like that once," Hunk offered. "I've never felt the same about tractors."

"I don't think the farms have anything to do with it," Shiro cut in before Lance could add on to that.

"Lance had a bad feeling," Keith said. "He told me on the way down." The way he said it was strange, like Lance's intuition was something significant. Lance wished he felt as secure about it, but he once he felt sure his bathroom was haunted back in the barracks and all that turned out to be was faulty plumbing.

Lance shifted uneasily at the way everyone turned their focus on him. "I don't think that's important," he said quickly. "Probably just something I ate."

"As a paladin, your intuition is not something to be ignored," Allura said. "We should all be on our guard."

How flattering. Lance couldn't help but puff up at the vote of confidence. Keith _and_ Allura? _Nice_ , he thought to himself. _Must be my animal magnetism._

"Paladins," Ropar stepped into the room through a door Lance had missed on first glance. "A great feast has been prepared in your honor. Please, come join us."

_Us_ , as it turned out, was just Ropar, his admittedly large family (twelve children seemed a little excessive, even to someone with as large a family as Lance), and an aging farmer named Ithmar who shared no relation to anyone in the room and couldn't seem to explain why he was there to begin with. Lance got stuck sitting next to Ithmar and had a difficult time not staring. Unlike the other Axytlans in the room, Ithmar was old - _really_ old. Rather than looking like a mauve humanoid elephant, Ithmar was shrivelled, resembling a dying vine more than anything else. The Axytlans ate with their trunks instead of their mouths, and Ithmar had passed the point of worrying about social niceties. He dropped his trunk directly into the bowl of lumpy, orange stew they'd been served as an appetizer and slurped away. One particularly enthusiastic slurped formed a large bubble in the stew that popped and splattered Lance.

Lance put down his spoon. "I give up," he told the child seated next to him. She - he? Lance wasn't sure. All the kids looked alike - nodded comiseratingly and said, "Pop."

"Sounds about right," Lance said.

Across the table, Keith was attempting to interrogate Ropar. Ropar was so excited to be dining with the paladins of Voltron that he just kept agreeing with whatever an increasingly paranoid Keith said. Lance could watch that trainwreck for _hours_ , but Shiro didn't seem to get the same kick out of it.

"What Keith means to say," Shiro began, practically climbing over Pidge in his haste to intervene, "is that our preliminary patrol didn't turn anything of interest up, but we'll definitely keep on it."

"You're _sure_ ," Keith stressed, "there's no Galra here. They can disguise themselves! Maybe no one knows."

"Keith, they're _purple_."

"I know, Pidge," and here Keith just began to get louder, competing with Shiro's desperate attempts to remain both civil and dignified. "I'm _just saying_ \--"

"This soup is great," Hunk said at the far end of the table, swirling his spoon in the still completely full bowl. "What's it made of?" Classic Hunk, Lance noted fondly. When in doubt, compliment.

"Oma root," Ropar's wife said, "and zuli."

"Zuli?"

"A large brown insect," Ropar's wife clarified. Pidge started gagging.

Dinner ended pretty fast after that.

xxx

"Well, _that_ was an unmitigated disaster," Coran announced. He sounded so happy about it, but hell, if Lance could have been monitoring from the castle, he'd have gotten a kick out of that shitshow too.

"It wasn't one of our better moments," Allura allowed, ever the diplomat, "but I won't allow this to color the remainder of our mission. We have a job to do, and we are _going_ to do it." In practically the same breath, she added, "I'll be joining Coran in monitoring from the ship. Keep me informed." The traitor.

"We were eating _bugs_ ," Hunk moaned, his arms pressed tight over his stomach. "I may never trust again!"

" _You_ may never trust again?" Pidge scoffed. She still looked pale. "I actually finished mine before I found out what it was!"

"Look, the food isn't important," Shiro said. "I mean, okay, that was _seriously_ gross--"

Keith cleared his throat, giving Shiro a pointed look.

" _But_ ," Shiro continued, "we can't let, ah, _cultural differences_ ," and wasn't that a hell of a way to put it, "distract us from the task at hand. These people are in danger. Ropar gave me a list of everyone and everything that's gone missing over the last cycle, and it's a pretty significant amount. There _is_ something going on here. We just need to look closer and stay on guard."

Easier said than done. They spent several dobashes poring over the information Ropar gave them, connecting it to the map, and failing to draw a pattern. The times, places, and objects of the disappearances were random. The only significant bit of information was that they only occured in Ropar's sector.

"I'm beat," Hunk said. They all were. "Let's check out the rooms we're staying in. Think Ropar's got a king size?"

"Doubtful," Shiro said. "He has three rooms to spare. And Pidge gets her own, so the rest of us are doubling up."

"What a great plan," Pidge said. "My day is better already."

"Cool," Lance said, and because his mouth ran faster than his brain, "I'll bunk with Keith."

Cue the silence.

"Are you sure?" Shiro looked dubious. "I guess it _would_ help better our bonds as a team to switch things up..."

While Lance chanted _fuck, damn, shit_ internally, Keith shrugged. "Works for me."

_This is your fault_ , Lance thought at Keith's ass when he leaned over to grab his go bag. Keith turned back around. "Why does your face look like that?"

"Why does _your_ face look like _that_?" Brilliant.

"You two..." Shiro threw his hands up. "Actually, no, not my problem. See you in the morning, guys."

The main hall, as it turned out, was also the head of the sector's home. The spare rooms were spread out, which probably should have made Lance uneasy but instead was a relief. He wanted privacy for no reason he could discern. As one of Ropar's older children led them to their room, Lance's eyes remained glued to Keith's back even as his heart was doing doubletime. Anxiety wasn't the word for it. No, Lance felt expectant. He was suddenly certain something was going to happen.

Ropar's son unlocked the door and left them in the hall. They were closest to the front door and the open room with the beanbags. Over Keith's shoulder, Lance could still see the light from the twin suns streaming in through the window and reaching down the hall toward them, bathing the stone floor. Keith's hand was on the door handle, and he fixed Lance with an unfamiliar look, something Lance couldn't help but notice softened the harsh lines of Keith's face.

"I was surprised," Keith said. "I didn't think you actually wanted to be alone with me." He seemed confused. Lance didn't blame him.

"Well, you know, bonding," Lance blustered, grasping at straws, "we should, um, do that."

So of course Keith took that moment to crack a rare joke: "Should I cradle you in my arms again?"

It was a joke, a damn _joke_ , but Lance went hot from head to toe, a gross, warm, oozing feeling, like his heart had bubbled over and spilled through the rest of him, overflowing. His face had to be red, and shit, Keith would _know_. Even socially-oblivious, no-humor Keith would be able to tell with one look that Lance had a weird ass fixation with everything Keith-related.

Over Keith's shoulder, Ithmar made his way to the door. The alarm in Lance's mind abruptly shifted from _WEE-WOO WEE-WOO WEE-WOO_ to _Target Confirmed._

"Ithmar," Lance blurted, ignoring Keith's puzzled _who?_ "Gotta go, you know, do my paladin duty!" He pushed past Keith and ran down the hall, startling Ithmar as he grabbed the old Axytlan's arm and announced, "I am here to escort you, citezin," before dragging him out the door. He didn't look back.

xxx

Lance woke to the announcement from Allura about their rapid approach to the next distress beacon, but he didn't really open his eyes until he felt something wet drag along the top of his head, tugging at his hair. At first Lance just thought _nice_ , and settled deeper into his bed, but then the tugging got painful - not to mention mucous-y. When he unburrowed himself, Kaltenecker's big brown eyes stared down at him. The cow was chewing on his hair. Lance wanted to scream.

But then he remembered.

"I'm... on the ship," Lance said, more of a question than a statement. Kaltenecker stared back at him, unfazed.

The castle.

The castle?

Lance remembered Axytl, remembered what a bizarre day he had. He remembered - and here his face began to burn - Keith, and volunteering to room with him, and that _stupid joke_. He remembered Ithmar, offering to walk him home. And he remembered -

Nothing. Lance couldn't remember a single thing after that.

"A dream?" He looked again at Kaltenecker, who had moved on to Lance's pillow. Of course it was a dream! All the weird shit he'd seen lately was getting to him. Talk about a vivid dream!

"We will be breaching Axytl's atmosphere in twenty dobashes. All Paladins report to the bridge," Allura's voice came across the intercom. "That means _you_ , Lance."

Lance froze. "Eerie," he muttered, pushing the cow's snout away. But it didn't mean anything. Lance had a great imagination.

"You're late," was the first thing Lance heard when he opened his door. Keith was leaning against the wall just outside his rooms, arms crossed over his chest.

Lance's stomach dropped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments/kudos/etc! It's been a loooong time since I've written fic so I'm glad to see it well received. And just fyi, there will be NO s3 spoilers in this fic. I haven't gotten to watch it yet myself!

Word for word. Lance's dream was repeating itself word for word which, really, drove the likelihood of it being _just a dream_ that much lower.

"Save the bloodshed for the Galra," Shiro was saying. Lance let out a distressed giggle. He sounded demented if the look Pidge gave him was anything to go by.

"I think I'm still asleep," Lance told Pidge.

"Feel free to drop unconscious at _any_ moment," she replied.

Maybe he really _was_ still asleep. Like he was dreaming about having a dream. Seemed pretty unlikely, sure, but considering the alternative - which was equally unlikely! - Lance figured he could do worse.

But by the time they landed the castle and headed down to meet the Axytlans, he still hadn't woken up. Keith leaned over and spoke to him, just like before, and Lance found himself repeating everything.

A bad feeling. Expectations of difficulty.

He hadn't been wrong.

xxx

Lance accepted his assigned patrol without a word. He couldn't find humor above the churning of his gut, a voice shrieking in the back of his head _I'M FUCKED_ at top volume. He disregarded Allura's instructions about weapons because if he didn't hold onto his gun, he knew his hands would shake.

It was all the same - every last field, house, and Axytlan he passed. They all stood identical to the first time he'd seen them.

Silence from the coms. Lance lost the battle with impulse and activated his mic. "Anyone find anything?"

At first, nothing. Then, "Don't you think we'd have said something?" Pidge groused. "This is _boring_. I'd welcome attempted murder with open arms at this point."

"It doesn't look like much at first glance," Shiro admitted, "but that doesn't mean there isn't a problem."

"Nothing on my end," Keith chimed in, seconded by Hunk.

"Time isn't up yet. Keep searching," Allura instructed. "Whoever or whatever is taking these people and their belongings has to have left some trace behind."

Lance didn't care. Not immediately, at least. His first instinct was to sort his own problems first, and he was fully willing to blame the Axytlans. Shame rushed in not long after. He was a _paladin_. The mission came first.

But seriously - fuck every last farmer _and_ their bug stew.

The com chatter was different. Lance's frustration broke the dam and killed the previous oppressive silence. He'd changed the day, just like that, and given himself a sense of hope. He just had to keep going. Seriously, how stupid was he to think he was, what, stuck in time? He was just, well, confused. Yeah, confused sounded right.

Allura finally called an end to the search, and she did it earlier than Lance expected - another difference!

"See you in a teck," Lance said, muting his com again. It's not like he'd get lost this time around. His incredibly vivid dream - or perhaps onset of psychic abilities - meant he'd already walked to the hall from his current position once. He arrived at the hall first.

" Well," Lance said, making himself comfortable on one of the bag chairs, "this is different." He made a show of relaxing, feet kicked up and hands clasped behind his head. Might as well rub it in while he could.

"Lance," Shiro was the next in. He sat down next to Lance, his larger frame settling awkwardly in the chair. He sank down just a touch too deep to really be comfortable, holding his arms at his side like he didn't know what to do with them. "You made quick time."

"What can I say? Must be my natural sense of direction."

"Okay," Shiro said, ever agreeable. "We'll go with that." Before Lance could address _that_ completely uncalled for sass, Shiro's face lost its humor. "I didn't find anything. Not a single thing! But I have this feeling, like something big is happening here. We're so close to it, but..." He shrugged. "I just hope whatever it is doesn't catch us off guard."

 _Tell him._ The urge was immediate, instinctive, but Lance batted it away. There wasn't anything to tell! He'd had a weird dream or something, maybe some kind of vision. Was that a thing? Like freaky paladin secret powers? Because Lance would totally pass that one up. Give him super strength or invisibility any day.

"A bad feeling?" Ah, the mullet man himself. Lance allowed himself a moment of weakness to take in Keith's good side: namely, _that ass_. Then he realized both Keith and Shiro were looking at him.

"Um," Lance said.

Shiro huffed out a laugh. "Keith was just saying you told him you had a bad feeling as well."

"Yes. A bad feeling." Lance thought again about telling them about the strange experience he had but couldn't find the words. Why make himself look even dumber? It wasn't like it would be relevant. "But that seems to be going around, so..."

"Something's up," Keith said. "Obviously. But I didn't find anything. Maybe we need to look outside Ropar's sector."

"We haven't been invited. Allura told me we can't cross borders like that without reason." Shiro sounded as frustrated as Keith looked.

Pidge and Hunk joined them shortly after, Allura on their heels. Lance felt at ease with all of them in one room, like having the team together would keep them invincible.

And then dinner.

Lance perversely found himself enjoying it the second time around. He was in on the joke. The child next to him was thrilled with the extra bowl of soup, and Lance managed to perfectly time shielding himself with a napkin to avoid getting splattered with Ithmar's soup. He hadn't noticed before, but Allura never touched the food either. She kept her hands in her lap and a small smile on her face, like she knew.

Their eyes met across the table. Allura outright grinned.

She _did_ know. Sneaky. So Coran wasn't the only one getting his kicks from the mess that was introducing the paladins to space food.

At the end of the table, Ropar's wife told Hunk the secret ingredient. Lance took a moment to appreciate the way Pidge's face lost color before she hurled all over Shiro's feet.

"I was waiting for that," Lance told Ithmar.

Ithmar looked perturbed.

xxx

It wasn't like Lance had _forgotten_ how amazingly he'd botched rooming with Keith in the dream. The thing was, he'd just stopped thinking about. Lance handled a lot of things that way. Humiliated at school? Pretend it never happend. Brutally rejected by a hot chick? Immediately forget her name. The Plan was perfect. The Plan was foolproof.

Keith was the problem.

"Run that by me again?" Lance's voice actually cracked. What was he, twelve?

"I thought we could room together." Look at Keith, just spouting bullshit like it was nothing. The sky was green. Kaltenecker was a dog. Keith and Lance always roomed together.

"It's a good idea." Shiro smiled. "Switching it up will help us all get closer." He hadn't sounded that enthusiastic when it was Lance's idea.

"I'm sensing favoritism," Lance muttered, crossing his arms and scowling. He could practically hear his mother telling him not to be a brat, but that only made him more annoyed.

"Guess I'll be the odd man out," Pidge said. "How terrible. No one to share space with, no snoring to keep me up.... Actually, screw that. Have fun with your slumber party." Pidge grabbed up her stuff and headed out. Lance wished he could pull off nonchalance like that but Pidge was on a whole other level. He tried to imagine her five years down the road but had to stop when he scared himself.

Keith bumped their shoulders together. "Coming?"

"Lead the way," Lance said. His heart started jackhammering away, and no amount of telling it to fuck off would help.

So he did what he did best. Lance talked.

"I've never seen so many farms in my life, and there aren't even hot farmer chicks," he lamented. Keith actually paused at that, one of his brows inching up. What the hell, his face said. Why are you like this?

"You know," Lance said, "like with the overalls that are actually booty shorts?"

"I used to wear overalls," Keith said. "So did my dad."

Lance wanted to point out how incredibly random and irrelevant that was, but then he realized he'd never heard Keith say the words _my dad_. What a freaking breakthrough.

"Was he a farmer?" Lance tried to keep Keith on the Nostalgia Express, but he failed spectacularly. Keith got this pinched look on his face like Lance had totally missed the mark.

Ropar's son had spectacular timing, choosing that moment to interrupt and offer to show them to their room.

This time when they reached the room, Keith walked in without a word. Lance couldn't get a read on him when he was like that, all sullen and quiet. Keith had just shut down, leaving Lance to wonder how he'd screwed up this time around. They went to sleep without a word, Keith keeping his face to the wall and his back to Lance, still like a corpse. Lance closed his eyes, ignoring the lead ball sinking in his gut. He'd deal with Keith tomorrow.

Kaltenecker woke him up chewing on Lance's hair. Allura's voice boomed across the castle's intercom.

"Oh," Lance said. "Oh _fuck_."

xxx

So. Not a dream, then.

Lance walked to the bridge with Keith in a daze. It was real. It was _all real_ which meant Lance was stuck in day one of literally the most boring mission he'd ever been on. He was going to again spend several hours staring at alien farms, eating shitty alien bug food, and alienating Keith. Over and over. Forever.

Lance's knees buckled. He sat heavily on the floor, staring blankly ahead.

"Lance?" Allura crouched down next to him. "Are you unwell?"

He was, actually, but Allura wouldn't understand. None of them would. How could they? It made no sense.

Lance took a deep breath, steeling his resolve. He could handle this. He could do it.

"I'm good," he said. "Just chilling."

"I see," Allura said.

Lance stood, brushing off her concern. Keith was watching him, a slight frown on his face.

"So what's the deal," Lance said loudly, forcing the conversation back on topic, but he tuned out as soon as Allura started talking. Blah blah alien farmers, blah blah no sense of humor. He knew.

Lance had a much bigger problem to deal with than the Axytlans and their mysterious disappearances. He had to find a way out. And maybe, he thought, it really was as simple as finding a way _out_. Despite the small differences, his first two turns had gone roughly the same: same patrol, same dinner, same Keith. The pattern remained. Maybe if he broke the pattern, he could break the cycle.

The chance came when Allura sent them out on patrol. Before she could assign him the same route, he pointed opposite the highest sun in the sky. "I'll take that way."

Allura opened and closed her mouth, apparently at a loss. "All right?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Lance, are you sure you're quite well?"

"Never better, Princess!" He made sure to throw in a wink, and got an eye roll in response. Perfect.

They all parted ways, everyone in a different direction. Lance walked with purpose, determined to find something, to give the day purpose. More change, that was what he needed. Make the day as different as possible. Break the cycle.

Rather than fields and farms, the area Hunk had patrolled the first two times started with small dome shaped homes set far apart and eventually led to an undeveloped piece of land.

The trees had a Dr. Suess sort of look about them, stretching high overhead and topped with pale green leaves that grew together like a circular bush. The grass on either side of the surprisingly well-maintained dirt path was the same green as on Earth but otherwise looked like a shag rug. Lance looked ahead at the way the dirt path ran on into the distance. According to Hunk, it would eventually loop around to pass by the castle and lead directly to the main hall.

Lance, armed with the power of change, decided to go off road.

He hadn't been wrong about the grass. Walking on it felt like walking on his older brother's ugly orange shag rug, squishy and thick. He crossed through the grass until the houses he'd passed before were sandy colored specks in the distance. Unlike passing through the farmland, there weren't any Axytlans here, just grass and trees rolling into the distance, ending up the slope of a hill. Lance trudged on in the heat, his undersuit stuck to his skin with sweat. He kept walking until he reached the top of the hill, pausing to take in the sight of the low valley beneath it.

As the hill rolled down, the grass gave way to earth and rocks, ending in a muddy lake. Lance finally saw other Axytlans: children, he guessed, all of them playing by the water. Their shrieks and laughter shattered the unease and sense of isolation that had weighed him down from the moment he lost sight of the little domes.

He started his way down the hill when something odd caught his attention. One of the kids froze and their body seemed to waver, like an optical illusion. And then, before Lance's very eyes, their image flickered and vanished. The kid was _gone_.

Lance started running. The other kids had noticed and started panicking. He unmuted his com, leaping over an above ground root. "I need backup! Sending my coordinates now!" But before he could tap the confirmation, Lance lost his footing. He went down hard, his head cracking against a rock.

And then he was back, Kaltenecker's teeth tugging at his hair. Lance shoved him away and sat up.

"No way."

The castle. Allura's voice. He was back again. He'd changed everything, but he was still stuck.

"That means you, Lance," Allura said over the intercom.

Lance got up and activated his manual lock. He muted the intercom. Then he got back into bed, pulling the covers tight around his body.

He couldn't do it. He just could not do it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments/kudos/etc! It's awesome to see :)

Lance slept. He wasn't surprised when he woke up to the same morning, but his stomach still dropped. 

"We've got to stop meeting like this," Lance told Kaltenecker, batting the cow away from his hair.

He'd spent the day before in bed, ignoring whoever banged on his door. It didn't seem worth it to move. The team might have been mad at him in the moment, but it was a new same day. They wouldn't remember.

And cue Allura. Lance grabbed his pillow and jammed it over his head, screaming into it. He wanted it to stop. He wanted it to _change_. Waking up to freaking Zarkon chewing on his head would be better than this. 

But there was no way out. Even if he _could_ tell the team, they'd just forget at the end of the day. It would hurt more, having them understand and then losing that, doing it over and over and -

No. Just no.

It was too bad all the geniuses on the ship were mechanically inclined. What he needed was, like, some kind of weird mad scientist. Too bad he didn't know anyone of those. Zarkon probably had a million of them just hanging around, the asshole.

Wait. 

Lance shot up in bed, his heartrate picking up. He _did_ know a mad scientist, quite possibly the maddest one of them all. He scrambled out of bed, throwing his robe and slippers on. He'd just heard Allura's first announcement, so Keith wasn't due to be at his door til a few dobashes after her second announcement. He flat out ran to the hangar to get to his lion, sliding around on the floor in slippered feet like he was skating. He nearly brained himself on a corner but that didn't matter because _Lance knew what to do_. For the first time since the cycle of days started, he didn't feel lost.

Blue welcomed him with a rumbling purr when he climbed into the cockpit. He patted the dashboard in greeting then pulled up the communications system. They'd left Slav in a safehouse arranged by the Blades, but he'd given them all his contact info just in case. Slave could help Lance. He _had_ to help Lance.

The screen flickered first to static, then went black. Just as Lance began to panic, Slav's face appeared so close to the camera it took up the entire screen. "Oh," Slav said, "it's you. What do you want?" 

Lance faltered. "Well," he tried. Then his mind went blank. How to say it...?

Slav tapped the screen, impatient. 

"So it's like this," Lance started again, " I am... trapped. In the same day."

Slav sat back. He looked less irritated and more pleased. "Explain. How did this come about?" His little arms were crossed over chest, his body swaying back and forth. Behind him, Lance could see part of a room that was basically destroyed, papers and food containers everywhere, the sight very much at odds with what Shiro had said about Slav.

"I don't know," Lance said, helpless. "I don't remember anything about the night it happened. I just woke up in bed in the castle again, and that's been happening ever since. I've changed everything I've done during the day, but that didn't work. And no one else is affected!" He could feel hysteria creeping into his voice. "Slav, there's no way out of this!"

"Maybe," Slav said, "but maybe not. You think across every reality you're the only one who's ever been caught in a temporal disturbance? Unlikely!"

"So you know how to fix it?" 

"Oh no," Slav said, waving one of his hands. "Not me. I've never heard of anything like this, but another me has not only heard of it but experienced it!"

"What does that even mean?" Lance demanded, slamming his fists down on the arm rests. "I don't care about another reality! I'm stuck in _this_ reality!"

"And what's the password?"

Lance stared. Password? _What_ password? What did Slav mean? "I... don't know?"

"I have a password for just such an occasion. You'll have to remind me when we see each other again."

"You mean tomorrow." Slav already had an uncanny understanding of the situation.

"No, no," Slav said. "Today. Isn't it always today?"

Which, fair enough. "So what's the password?"

"LANCE."

Slav frowned. "That's not it."

Again, from outside Blue: " _LANCE_." 

Lance flicked on the perimeter camera. Keith stood at Blue's feet, fists clenched at his sides. He looked pissed.

"Damn."

"You have company?" Slav asked, looking around.

"The password," Lance hissed. "What's the password?"

"Contagious rats," Slav said. Lance wasn't going to ask - didn't feel the slightest bit inclined to know. "Retrace your steps," he advised Lance. "Find out where you went before you forgot."

Blue gave a shudder. She opened her mouth, in tune with Lance's feelings. He wouldn't turn Keith away, wouldn't deny him access. But damn it, did his timing have to always be so bad?

Slav flickered off the screen as Keith stomped his way into the cockpit. "Do you take anything seriously?" Yeah, definitely pissed.

Lance relaxed his posture, spreading his hands. "Keith, my buddy, my man--"

"We have a mission," Keith said. "Allura's been calling. We've all been waiting!" Lance realized about thirty seconds too late how genuinely angry Keith was.

"Yeah, I know." The humor drained from Lance, and he slumped in his seat. "Axytl, disappearances, blah blah blah. I could do the meeting for Allura at this point."

Keith looked stumped. Surprise bled the anger from his face. For a moment, just a moment, Lance wondered if he should bother. Keith wouldn't remember. Explaining it all and then losing Keith again to the same day - why put himself through it?

"I don't understand," Keith said after a few beats of silence. "You shouldn't know that. Were you listening in?"

"No, I was busy." Lance waved at the now blank communications screen. "I was talking to Slav."

"Slav?" Keith looked at the screen, then back to Lance. "Why?"

"So here's the thing," Lance didn't know what to say, didn't have a single idea. But he wanted Keith to know, wanted all of them to know. "I've already done the mission."

"No, you haven't," Keith scoffed. "I think I would know."

"You were there too," Lance was quick to say. He could feel himself losing the thread. "Look, okay, just _look_! I know this sounds weird, but I have been stuck," he got to his feet, closing the distance between them. He grabbed Keith's arms and saw his own surprise mirrored on Keith's face. "Stuck in the _same day_. I keep--waking up, right?" Lance let go of Keith, raking a hand through his hair. "Except I'm waking up on the same morning, over and over and _over_. I go to sleep on Axytl, and I wake up in the castle with that damn cow chewing on my head and Allura on the coms and--and you! Standing outside my room!"

"I don't understand," Keith said. "That doesn't make any sense. It's not possible."

"After all the weird shit we've been through, this is where you draw the line?"

They watched each other for a few beats. Lance wanted Keith to believe him, hadn't realized how desperate he was for Keith to know. 

"All right," Keith said. "All right. Say I believe," though by the look on his face, Lance didn't have much hope, "what then? You're stuck in some--some time loop. What happens next?"

"Doesn't matter." Lance shrugged. "This whole thing will start again tomorrow. You aren't going to remember."

Keith was quiet after that. He kept his eyes on the ground, the corners of his mouth creeping down. Then, "Have you told me before?"

"No. This is the first time." 

"Why? Why wouldn't you tell me? Tell any of us?"

"Why bother?" Lance asked. "You weren't going to remember. You can't help. It's going to suck, waking up tomorrow and being alone." 

"You should tell the team. Pidge can--"

"Pidge and Hunk are engineers," Lance said. "That's why I contacted Slav. If anyone can help, it's him."

"And can he?"

"Who knows?" Damn, but Lance was tired. He was ready to crawl back into bed, give it another go again later. Just getting Keith to the point where he acknowledged Lance's situation was possible felt like too much. "He told me to retrace my steps. Figure out where it all went wrong. I don't know if it'll do me any good."

"Let me help."

Lance laughed. "By doing what?"

Keith bit off a frustrated sound, jerking his gaze from Lance. "I don't know! But if you're serious, I have to do something. You should tell the team--"

"No way!" Lance wasted enough time already. He was amazed the team hadn't shown up to drag him and Keith out of Blue. What did they think was happening? "I'm already losing time. We need to get to Axytl. I have to walk that old guy home--"

"Old guy?"

"Ithmar," Lance clarified, not that it did Keith any good. "You'll see."

"Lance? Keith?" The communications screen flashed red before a visual of Allura's face appeared. "What are you doing in Blue? We have a debriefing going on!"

"Lance needs to--"

Lance slapped his hand over Keith's mouth, ignoring the furious look Keith gave him. "Like Keith was saying, I need to get ready still. But he filled me in!"

"He doesn't know everything," Allura pointed out, exasperated. "He might have, if he hadn't stormed out when you didn't show up precisely on time." 

"Right, well, we'll be there in a teck!" Lance hit the button ending the call. Then he looked back at Keith. "Every time you've come to get me, you tell me Shiro sent you."

Keith, remarkably, said nothing. But his face went pink. It was such an unfamiliar sight that Lance couldn't bring himself to mock Keith for it.

Not yet, anyway.

xxx

Despite Lance's best intentions, the trip down to the planet was tense. Keith insisted he should tell the team. Lance understood why he wanted him to, but having gone through the trouble of telling Keith was enough, especially when he didn't think Keith fully believed him. It was exhausting. 

"That's Ropar," Lance pointed out when the head of the sector stepped forward. 

"I am Ropar," Ropar said.

Keith looked at Ropar, then at Lance. "What." It wasn't a question. Lance shrugged.

"I've been through this part enough," he said. "They're going to tell us about the disappearances and then invite us to stay in the main hall and have a great feast or whatever." Lance rolled his eyes. "Word to the wise, my man. Don't eat the soup. It's bugs."

Keith looked suitably alarmed.

After the gathering of Axytlans dispersed, Allura assigned them all to patrols. Again. Lance was so sick of this day he wanted to puke. 

"Let's get this show on the road," he said, heading off toward the highest of the two suns. But before he could get far, Keith caught his arm.

"Be careful," he said. "I--I believe you. We'll figure this out."

Lance felt his whole body sag with relief. "Thanks, man."

Keith let him go. "I won't say anything to the others yet. But you should."

"Eventually," Lance agreed. "But this time around, I've got some steps to retrace."

xxx

The day crawled by, monotonous. Trying to do everything the way he had the first time around was borderline painful. Lance couldn't tolerate boredom on his best day. But by the time dinner was over, a buzz had built in the back of his mind. Walking Ithmar home was the important part, where whatever had gone wrong had actually happened. Keith was less thrilled about the plan but he'd parted ways with Lance willingly enough. 

"Talk about déjà vu," Lance muttered, closing the door behind himself and a befuddled Ithmar. The old Axytlan didn't look especially happy to be getting an escort, and the moment rang true in Lance's mind. Ithmar hadn't wanted him around the first time either, but Lance had been distracted. He'd wanted to get as far away as he could from Keith. Maybe being distracted was what cost him. Watching Ithmar in his peripheral, he had a difficult time believing the guy could have had anything to do with his predicament. Hell, he looked like he had one foot in the grave! "Maybe he's a time wizard," Lance whispered.

"Who?" Keith's voice came across the com clear enough and loud enough that Lance quickly glanced at Ithmar to make sure he hadn't heard. "The old guy? Don't be an idiot." Keith insisted on coming along, even if it was only his voice through the com. 

"Just saying..." It made about as much sense as anything else that was happening.

"What are you going to do if this doesn't pan out?" Keith asked.

"Try again the next go around," Lance said. "It's not like I've got a choice." Keith stayed quiet after that.

Ithmar wasn't chatty either, so they walked in silence. Lance couldn't remember where the guy lived, had no real memory of walking him home outside of walking through the door of the main hall. It could have been miles away. Or maybe Ithmar just ambushed him right outside? Lance kept a close watch on the old Axytlan as he hobbled along, his trunk hanging so low from the hunch in his back it nearly dragged along the ground.

Lance waited. Something _had_ to happen. But time ticked on. Ithmar said nothing to him when they reached the small dome shaped house at the end of a long dirt road that must have belonged to him. The old Axytlan just walked straight into the house and closed the door without a second glance.

"You're welcome!" Lance shouted after him. "Okay, so he's probably not a time wizard."

"Shocker," Keith muttered. "Just get back here."

"I can't! I have to retrace my steps!"

"Fine," Keith said, annoyed, "so where are you going next?"

"No idea. I don't remember anything," Lance admitted. "Walking Ithmar out of the main hall was the last thing. Everything's blank after that."

It was so damn frustrating! The weight of the situation hung heavy over Lance. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to see Keith. He wanted to be back on Earth with his family, ignorant of what the universe really was about. But instead, he was stuck - and in the worst possible way.

"If you come back, we can figure something out," Keith said. "Wake everyone up, tell the team. I told you to do that before! They can help. They would want to help."

"Maybe you're right," Lance said. "This was a pointless trip. Maybe nothing happened. Maybe I just got stuck." He groaned. "The universe hates me."

"Probably," Keith said, but he sounded sympathetic. "Just get back here, okay?"

"Why? Worried about me?" 

"Yes," Keith said plainly. Lance's heart stuttered.

"I'm coming b--"

And then he froze.

"Lance?" Keith called out to him. "What's up?"

Lance couldn't get his mouth to move, couldn't get any part of his body to cooperate. The air around him wavered like an optical illusion, and he remembered - the kid. The one who disappeared. He could see the image so clearly in his mind, their frozen body, the way their image warped and then vanished. _Oh shit_ , he thought, panic creeping over him. _Shit, shit shit!_

He heard Keith calling his name, shouting for him. Then nothing.


End file.
